Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This study examined the role of Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) in peacebuilding, focussing particularly on the case of the Kenya Community Sports Foundation’s (KESOFO) Sport for Peace and Social Transformation (SPST) programme in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya. It was meant to provide an in-depth understanding of the role generally played by community NGO programmes in fostering peace in communities through variations of the SDP framework. Additionally, the study’s purpose was to identify lessons of experience from the programme and give recommendations on how the programme can be improved in delivering its stated goal of fostering peace and development in conflict prone communities. The study made use of Johan Galtung’s 3Rs Conflict transformation theory, linking it with the Sports for Development and Peace (SDP) framework, with a critical analysis being proffered all in the quest to inform conceptualisation of this particular study. It made use of the philosophical assumption of interpretivism through relativist ontology and qualitative research methodology anchored on a descriptive approach.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the intersection of sport for development and peace (SDP) and global corporate philanthropy through a case study of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) “Basketball Without Borders” (BWB). The NBA promotes BWB as a means to social and economic development in the global South by wedding basketball with education on social issues and the development of sport-related infrastructure. However, the NBA’s participation in SDP is emblematic of broader issues in neoliberal globalization, and, as such, an historical and discursive analysis is undertaken to interrogate the seemingly divergent pursuits of capitalism and international development. I argue that the consequences of transnational corporations like the NBA entering developing nations for the purposes of promoting development through sport results in the prioritization of commercialism over development, and the (re)production of hegemonic and neocolonial ideologies and practices. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-03-17 14:51:15.919

abstract: This thesis explores the relationship between sports and human rights based on United Nations reports and literature within the growing Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector. Recognizing the benefits of sport (including physical activity and play), SDP posits sport as an effective tool for achieving humanitarian, development, and peace objectives. Inspired by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's (LLS) Team in Training (TNT) sports charity training model, which provides participants valuable coaching in exchange for charity fundraising, this research looked at the contribution of TNT and endurance sports to SDP for individual and social change. Interviews were conducted with TNT staff and team members (who are recent or current participants of the program) in order to find out specific reasons about why people join the program and to identify the benefits of combining endurance training with charity fundraising and what impacts this had on personal life goals and challenges. Using thematic analysis to identify key themes from the interview data, the study acknowledged the program's successes in developing endurance athletes and raising money for LLS research and services but also found an additional dimension to the merit of the program. The accomplishment of completing four months of training culminating in the completion of an endurance event with the support of team mates and coaches provides a life changing experience for participants. The study concludes that positive impacts of the TNT program can be applied to other organizations, causes and social issues. In particular it showed how endurance sport not only has physiological benefits but can be used as a method of healing and reconciliation, can aid in advocacy and awareness, and promote individual development. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Social Justice and Human Rights 2012

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This thesis is about the sporting lives of people who work and/or live at the commercial grape and wine farms of the Western Cape. Collectively referred to as farm workers, they are identified by the Western Cape Provincial Government as a priority group in need of "development". Over the past 15 or so years, proclamations and practices of "sport for development and peace" (SDP) have emerged as globally recognised phenomena, where sport is promoted as a tool to achieve a broad range of "development" objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals. As a research topic, SDP scholars examine the practical and theoretical usefulness of sport as a tool for addressing a diverse set of social, health, political and economic issues through education, diplomacy, inclusion, and awareness programmes. Instead of attending to the questions of whether or how sport might serve "development" ends, this study offers a critical analysis of the nexus between sport and "development" (SDN) in the context of farm workers of the Western Cape. Informed by James Ferguson‘s analysis of "development" as an 'anti-politics machine' (1990), I adopt a deconstructionist approach that examines issues beyond the narrow confines of "development" problems and programmes. As he argues, "development" continues to serve as a-central organising concept‘ to discuss and assess desired change in social and economic realms, which is evident in the programmes of farm worker "development" and how these continue to retain a place in the policy and political discourses on agrarian transformation in post-apartheid South Africa. With an appreciation of the Western Cape‘s agrarian history and politics and how they shape present-day farm labour conditions, I have critically analysed the discourses and practices of farm worker "development" and SDP in the light of broader structural realities, everyday sporting lives and the "development" experiences of farm workers. The central organising question of this thesis is: how do "development" problems and the solutions sought for in SDP discourses and programmes correspond to the social, economic and political realities of their subjects? Drawing on my ethnographic fieldwork conducted at farmlands in and around Rawsonville, a small rural town, from April 2012 to May 2013, I illustrate different and seemingly disconnected frames and positions from which theories of SDP and farm workers‘ experiences of sport and "development" were observed. The analysis is organised around three contrasting frames of observation, namely: 1) historical and contemporary discourses and politics of farm worker "development" and SDP programmes and practices, 2) structural arrangements of competitive and physical infrastructure for official sport, and 3) everyday (official and unofficial) sporting practices and experiences of the rural working class people. With a particular attention to continuities and contradictions in historical and contemporary farm worker "development" discourses and selected SDP case studies, I demonstrate that while SDP agendas directed at farm workers may serve divergent and at times conflicting interests, farm workers' own agency, initiative and aspirations do not feature in SDP programmes and broader "development" discourses. The contrasts and counter-narratives presented in discussing these case studies and stories complicate and contest simplified notions commonly projected in global SDP discourses and locally specific "development" agendas. Beyond the confines of sporadic and temporary SDP projects, there was a vibrant and active world of formal and informal sport among the farm workers of Rawsonville. By focusing on the everyday sporting lives of athletes, coaches, managers, organisers and soccer clubs, I paint a picture that reveals the diversity and inconsistency of experiences and meanings of farm worker as an identity, a class position and an occupation. Interrogating how farm workers were embedded within the broader rural sport structures, I describe the complex set of factors that shaped their experiences of, access to, and participation in, sport. I argue that while sport was passionately pursued irrespective of direct or corollary "development" benefits, it was unofficial and under-the-radar sport networks and practices that served as vital spaces of autonomy, initiative and self-realization, even for those who may not otherwise have had such opportunities. And while the politically disengaged and enthusiastically embraced qualities of sport may continue to be among the reasons for its traction in "development" and peace agendas, these very same qualities allow sport to be usefully employed as an ethnographic method. Among the formative turns I took in conducting and presenting my research observations was to implicate myself and invite the reader into the confusing and complex process of learning and knowledge production. By way of conclusion, I argue for refocusing the gaze of research on studying sport as part of the broader scope of subaltern sociality.

The purpose of this study was to explore the connections between Sport for Development and Peace (SDP), service-learning, and community-university partnerships through the implementation of the Service-Learning: Sport and Community Development (SCD) class. It was my hope that this research would produce a usable model, a framework for other scholars and practitioners interested in developing community-university partnerships. I wanted this project to not only answer the “why” questions for SDP and service-learning, but also the “how” questions – specifically, how to create a reflexive and collaborative partnership that balances the needs of the community and university. I wanted to create something riveting and real, something inspiring and authentic, and something more inclusive than a first-person programmer or instructor account of the experience (Darnell, 2007; Eyler & Giles, 1999; Millington, 2010; Stoecker & Tryon, 2009). Much like the goals of the class, this research was designed to stimulate and encourage others to move toward a more critical and engaged community agenda. To do that, I needed to create a research text that readers could “keep in their minds and feel in their bodies the complexities of concrete moments of lived experience” (Ellis, 2004, p. 30). For that reason, I chose narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) as the primary method of representation, coupled with performance narratives (Denzin, 2003) and poetics (Glesne, 2006; Ely, 2007). Based on the data collected from 49 qualitative interviews, 500 pages worth of reflective journals, and 200 pages of electronically recorded field notes, I created a visual community-university partnership model that illustrates the connections between SDP and service-learning as implemented in the SCD class. In addition to the visual model, I constructed narratives to detail the progression of the SCD experience over time, beginning with the common language of sport and ending in complete investment and reciprocity. As a result of this research, it has become clear that if implemented with intentionality, careful consideration, community collaboration, and reflexivity, that sport-based service-learning initiatives can enhance student learning, improve community welfare, and strengthen ties between the community and the university.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / This paper examines an international SDP NGO in relation to the most challenging limitations facing the current Sport for Development and Peace sector. Employing an existing academic framework of the contemporary SDP sector, this case study explores under what conditions an SDP organization might begin to emancipate themselves from such limitations.